April 2006 Archives

Oklahoma is the last state of the union to prohibit tattoos.  But not for long.  Both houses of the Oklahoma legislature have passed a bill to legalize & regulate tattooing.

The development sparked a two-part series on tattoos & piercings in Oklahoma's Tahlequah Daily Press.  What is particularly revealing about these articles is their emphasis on the legitimacy of tattoos from a Christian perspective.  Part I, on tattoos, contains this lengthy apologia:

Chris Craig, “CC” as he’s known to his friends, has several tattoos, all speak to his spirituality.

“People get the wrong impression about people who have tattoos,” said Craig. “Mine are very religious. People might know more about Christianity if they actually read their Bibles.”

According to Craig, the popular Bible passage relating to not injuring oneself relates more to pagan ritual.

“The Bible says you’re not supposed to ‘let blood for the dead,’” said Craig. “Which means you’re not supposed to participate in ritualistic destruction of your body to raise the dead, things like that.”

Craig is a friend of the Smiths, and Karen is quick to talk about his devotion to God.

“If you’ll notice, he has flames tattooed up and down both arms,” said Karen. “He was in a really bad motorcycle accident and died three or four times before they completely revived him. His tattoos are a reflection of God saving his life. One says ‘Only God can judge me.’”

According to Karen, Craig lived one way before the accident, and lives a completely different way now.

“Chris is in church every Wednesday and Sunday,” she said. “He’s also a member of the Christian Motorcycle Association.”

Safari has a number of customers who are preachers part-time, according to Karen.

“People need to lose the idea that tattoos are bad or wrong,” she said.

And Part II, on piercings, is accompanied by a man wearing a cross pendant & an Aslan shirt as he gets another pierce:

The newspaper in Clovis, New Mexico has a feature on Cheryl Burch, a local woman who crafts custom-made crosses for any occasion.  For example, Cheryl recalls

creating a fruit-themed cross to coincide with another friend’s kitchen theme. “I’ve even made a cross decorated with cats,” Burch said.

If there were ever an article that cried out for pictures . . .

Continuing this week's occasional theme of emerging designers' jewelry of the spirit is, well, Jewelry of the Spirit, created by Liz Alpert. 

Besides depicting her designs, Liz's web site tells the intriguing story of how breaking her back in ski accident led her to find healing power in natural beauty.  Follow the links to learn more about the larger movements of which Liz is a part--including the Reconnection, a healing movement out of Hollywood that has made Liz its official jewelry designer.

SMALL WORLD EXTRA:

Liz Alpert is the niece of Richard Alpert, more popularly known as Ram Dass.

Want to embroider a cross on your jeans jacket?  The Holy Needle offers more than 500 Christian designs for your sewing pleasure.  There are even patterns to create liturgical garments, which can come in handy for starting your own sect!

the two towers, originally uploaded by Im.H.

A visual contrast between old and new in Malaysia. Click the pic for more details, including a link to an explanation of the Hindu and Islamic design elements in the 1912 Big Clock Tower.

I'll let you guess which one that is.

This week we've seen several examples of adornment that, while not intentionally linked to a specific religious tradition nonetheless express spiritual archetypes.  Below are a couple more from Colorado designer Amy Kahn, who also has a new blog on the jewelry business and design. 

Water, circles and my personal favorite, the spiral--Amy's jewelry abounds with references to shapes that recur throughout sacred and secular explorations of meaning. 

Star Tile at Gulbenkian Museum, originally uploaded by brooksba.

For an intriguing discussion of how the complex design of traditional Islamic stars relates to contemporary design, check out this overview from Computer Science professor Craig Kaplan. His online Ph.D. dissertation has much more detail.

The jeweler as teacher:  Washington's Altemueller Jewelry provides a guide to Judeo-Christian symbols of faith to help people understand what they wear. 

Above is a Peace pendant from the Innergy collection by Paula Abdul, the pop star enjoying a career rebirth as a judge on American Idol.  Abdul's jewelry has been getting a bit of press recently after selling out in her appearance on QVC.    

The name of the collection points to its connection with spiritual adornment:  Innergy is part of a greater trend toward jewelry of meaning.  In this case, the message is one of personal fulfillment.  Inscribed in the Peace pendant:  "Find Your Inner Peace . . . Be Who You Are Completely." 

Of course, there are also those who would say that this piece of jewelry has a deeper religious significance--as an icon of Antichrist!

Sometimes religious unity takes shape in a distinct spiritual tradition, such as the Bahai faith.  And sometimes it is a simple cri de couer. 

Look closely at the above necklace & bracelet and you'll see symbols of three different religious traditions:  a buddha head, a cross and a Star of David.  This is Unity jewelry by LA designer Jessica Elliott, whose jewelry-making hobby has become a highly successful full-time enterprise.  As Jessica says in the description, "Can't we all just get a long?  Hope this helps."

For more of Jessica's jewelry featuring variations on crosses, keys, rosaries and other symbolic archetypes, check out her collection here.

Left:  A glass bead necklace from Maker Faire, by Jenine Bressner.  Beads are among the oldest forms of human adornment, representing our earliest expressions of abstract symbolic communication.

Right:  Neck rings worn by women of the Padaung.  According to the Padaung creation myth, the rings are a reminder of the long-necked dragon mother from whose egg the Paudaung emerged. 

Today is Easter in the Orthodox Church.  Sure, Orthodox believers have to wait an extra week, but it also means they can find Easter chocolate on sale.

Above, a Resurrection Cross from the Russian Orthodox tradition.  Click here for an explanation of what's on the cross, and here for other examples of cross jewelry from the extensive Gallery Byzantium collection.

Queen Victoria uses her cross pendant to ward off a werewolf in the latest UK episode of Doctor Who.  For spoiler-filled reviews detailing another connection to the BofG, click these links.

Forget Opus Dei.  The Da Vinci Code marketers have made the Vitruvian Man a eunuch unto the Lord.   (HT:  Jennifer Emick)

The original Vitruvian Man by Leonardo DaVinci:

Official Da Vinci Code licensed merchandise:

There might be a gang in the midst of them.  The picture below is part of an article from Georgia on how police identify gang members.  Among other things, the police look for tattoos and religious jewelry.

Uh oh.

San Mateo is Spanish for "Saint Matthew," but that's not the reason for this post.  San Mateo is also a city in California where I would be this weekend if I still lived on the West Coast.  "Why?," you ask.

Maker Faire!

Maker Faire is Geekapalooza--a gathering wholly dedicated to DIY tech.  Robots, crafts, animation:  what's not to like?

And of course, there's also jewelry--most notably, a fashion show marking the debut of Black Box Nation, the new venture by Emily Albinski and Diana Eng.  I had a chance to talk with Diana about BBN a little while ago, and what she has planned sounds amazing, not just in regard to their designs but the broader aim of building a tech-oriented design community.

To the left is the signature fuse necklace designed by Emily and worn by Diana on Project Runway.  And below (right):  a knit jacket with ruffles that use the Fibonacci series to create truly divine proportion!

The latest in the series of Metals and Crosses is up at Coolstones, the blog of Anne Maa Designs.  This entry includes a piece utilizing a Hindu depiction of the Seven Sisters. 

Boing Boing has linked to a couple fascinating photo sets from Christian churches in Ukraine and Colorado.  The first pic is a girl in the Ukrainian church's Christian Models Club, where she is learning how to walk the runway.  Much more when you follow the links.

Manal al Dowayan is a Saudi photographer who, when she's not working at her day job as a systems analyst for an oil company, has been gaining some notice for her images of women in Muslim society. 

This article discusses a major exhibit on the life of British Muslims that has just opened in Riyadh, focusing on the scandalized reaction of Muslim conservatives.  Did al Dowayan really show a woman with a Christian cross tattoo?  Could women actually be riding cars and wearing flashy gold jewelry in public? 

The photographer herself is hopeful that Saudi society is moving toward progressive change.  After all, her work is being shown in public--and she is still alive.

Ali Tahmourpour wants to join the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but much to his chagrin they kicked him out of training.  Since then he has been trying to get reinstated, on the grounds that the cause for his rejection was anti-Muslim bias.   This article has the latest on Ali's case, including this reported incident:

One of his complaints against the force related to comments a superior officer made about a pendant which he wore as a sign of his Muslim faith.

Tahmourpour alleged that instead of treating his request to wear the pendant during fitness classes respectfully, a sergeant told the entire class in a "condescending and hostile" manner that "no one is going to wear his religious jewelry, except for Ali, of course."

PICTURED ABOVE:  An Allah pendant from The Canadian Muslim.

Below are a couple of fun items of spiritual adornment contributed by Jennifer Emick, whose Alternative Religions site at About.com is a daily must-read here at the BofG. 

The first is iPod bling, and what makes this piece particularly intriguing is that it is not the usual "wear to witness" piece so often seen across the Christian web.  Rather, the makers promote it as a "social commentary on the fastest growing religion in the world" (No, Mormons don't wear crosses, but I don't think that's the intended referent).  Whether the iBelieve cross is a parody or profession of faith is left up to the user, which seems perfectly in keeping with our technologic world.

And below is a truly inspired riff on the popular evangelical adventure series on life in the end times after Christians have taken to heaven in the Rapture:   

Did Jesus truly come back from the dead?  Did he leave behind any children as heirs? 

The Da Vinci Code has made these questions once again fodder for popular debate.  Coincidentally (ha ha ha), religious scholars, partisans and pundits have all been happy to oblige. 

Of the books now flooding the market that challenge the traditional orthodox view, perhaps the most intriguing comes from a respected religious scholar who was researching these issues years before Dan Brown asked his wife how to spell Botticelli.  In The Jesus Dynasty, Professor James Tabor examines the historic ministry of Jesus not only in light of textual criticism, but the latest in biblical archaeology. 

And here's where it gets explosive.

Among other things (such as explaining why the most important person going by the name "Pantera" may not be Dimebag Darrell) Tabor offers a lengthy argument that the bones which once lay in the ossuaries of Jerusalem's Talpiot tomb may have been those of family of Christ.

As in mother Mary & Joseph, brothers Matthew & James, and . . .

well . . .

um . . .

don't shoot the messenger . . .

Jesus and his son Jude.

Intrigued?  Read a provocative chapter here, and the NT Gateway rounds up some early reviews. The book has much more, including a picture of the as yet unexplained angle-and-circle symbol on the face of the Talpiot tomb, its mysterious tri-skulled layout and Tabor's theory as to why Jesus may have wanted a flesh-and-blood heir.   

Of course, as Tabor himself concedes, much of this is just hypothesis inferred from incomplete evidence.  We as of yet can't prove that any tomb once held the bones of Jesus or his begotten son.  

And were you to ask the folks at Empty Tomb Design, we never will.

Elliott Ruben's Ganesha tattoo, originally uploaded by nickgraywfu.

Hindu tattoo from Flickr of Ganesh, the remover of obstacles.

Mary J. Blige in Blender, from today's Page Six: 

"My God is a God who wants me to have things. He wants me to bling. He wants me to be the hottest thing on the block"

Sole Sisters retail store, originally uploaded by rllayman.

This is a photo from a Sole Sisters shoe store in Michigan. As the description on Flickr explains,

Owner Lauren Beras is spiritual and is thankful to God for her business. She wrote scriptures on the floor before they laid the carpet. She wants for people to walk on the scriptures.

As much spiritual jewelry as there is in the world, for some families it will never be enough.  Last week a federal court approved the final allocation of museum funds as part of the settlement in the Gold Train case, in which U.S. soldiers took for themselves jewelry and other items that the Nazis had seized from Hungarian Jews.  For more on the history behind this case, check out this government report and hungariangoldtrain.org.

Like the idea of an Easter basket but not a member of the Christian faith?  Or are you a Christian looking for any excuse to indulge after Lent but uncomfortable with the secular Easter Bunny?  Look no further, pilgrims . . .

Chocolate Deities is the answer to your prayers!  Below for your Easter viewing pleasure are just a few of their divine (and tasty) treats.  And for more on the historical links between chocolate and religion, check out this overview from the museum exhibit on chocolate now traveling throughout the U.S.

Cross jewelry from the Officially Licensed Passion of the Christ Collection.  For more on the consulting guru who shaped the marketing push behind the Passion, check out the article on Larry Ross in today's New York Times Magazine.

Tattoo, originally uploaded by heatherashley.

The way to the heart of this little boy? A Jesus tattoo in his church Easter Basket!

The Stations of the Cross is a Good Friday ritual in which the devout meditate before scenes from Christ's crucifixion.  Above is a piece of Stations bling with all scenes represented for your viewing pleasure.

Well, not exactly pleasure, because one of the points of the exercise is for you to feel penitent over your own sins, which are, after all, in Catholic theology the reason for the season.  This classic set of meditations by St. Alphonsus Liguori sets out all the Stations and the traditional tone. 

But that's old school.  Drudge links today to an article on the meditations prepared for the Pope's upcoming public run-through of the Stations of the Cross, and although he will say, "Lord, we have lost the sense of sin!", by "we" he means "they."  The "we" in question is the rest of society, "an absurd cult of Satan" whose "hedonistic" "filth" is "making us less human."  Geneticists are a particular target of the meditation's wrath, inasmuch as they are polluting the ideal "grammar of life" set by God.

Memo to the papal ghostwriter:  whether the Stations is the right time for a jeremiad against others we'll leave up to you.  However, when you're writing for a German pope, is it really a good idea to have him call for the elimination of genetic impurities & subhuman filth?

Deborah Lurie Edery is the designer behind JudaiClay, a line of jewelry drawn from Jewish ritual and holidays.  Above special for Passover is her Matzah Heart Pin, an unleavened but nonetheless tasty piece of spiritual bling!

For more matzah blinginess, check out Jibjab's playful Matzah rap video, featuring Eric Schwartz, aka Smooth-E. 

And below (hat tip:  Mark Evanier) is a short documentary from Chabad.org in which an inquiring Jewish puppet finds out how matzah is made.

Suzanne Sataline, who wrote the fun article on the atheist who sold his soul on eBay to a Christian, has a new article in today's Wall Street Journal on a Pennsylvania church that communicates its message through drama and tattoos. 

Want this Star of David pendant from Kosher.com?  Gotta wait.  The shipping department is closed for Passover.

EXPLANATION EXTRA:

Click here & scroll down for more about 

Last week we looked at the anarchy symbol, V for Vendetta and the oft-glossed-over anarchist impulse in popular religion--all prompted by an A pendant designed for a baby.  Now here's a little something to help your favorite little anarchist learn the true meaning of the alphabet.

Hat tip:  the always entertaining News From Me

While the next three days of the Easter holiday get all the press, today is Spy Wednesday, the day on the Church calendar that marks Judas' betrayal of Jesus in exchange for 30 pieces of silver.

This incident has inspired any number of powerful images over the centuries, but none is literally more full of power than this Christmas light display.

This ad is making the internet rounds, with the heading . . .

How to Tell if a Catholic is Driving too Fast

Hat tip:  Counterfeit Chic

When does a priest wear pink vestments?  The God-Fearing Seminarian explains.

To the left, a third-century BCE pendant featuring the Roman goddess Fortuna.

Here, your own personal destiny.

A&E this upcoming Sunday is going to premiere the first episode of its five-part documentary God or the Girl?  If you want to see guys on the cusp of the priesthood struggling with their decision, this is your show. I happen to know several folks who faced this decision and chose, well, technically, the girl, but if you asked them they'd say it never was an either-or decision.

POP LIFE REFERENCE EXTRA!

The title of this post is, of course, a Prince song, and the pendant to the left is his infamous symbol.  Over the years Prince has also written a number of songs on spiritual themes--such as the Easter-themed Anna Stesia (in Greek, "resurrection"), whose opening launches this funky Prince mix recently featured on YesButNoButYes. 

Andy Warhol once observed that the true art of his Campbell Soup Cans lay not in the paintings themselves but in how people react to them. 

Here at the B of G we think the same holds true for movies with religious themes--like, just to pick a random example, The Da Vinci Code.  Sony has shrewdly co-opted Christians to help hype the film provided a forum for critics, while Catholics and evangelicals have taken the lead to make this a "teachable moment" for spreading the Word. 

Will people really stake the future of their eternal souls on a Tom Hanks movie?  Beats me.  I just want to look at the tchotchkes.  So while the Code is saturating mindshare, let's take the opportunity to scope out related bling--and not just bling related to this movie, but to some of the pop hits of the past that fueled the Passion of believers Lion in wait to tout their Dogma. 

The item pictured atop this entry has to be my favorite so far:  the ubercool Vitruvian LegoMan!  (Hat tip:  Pencil Roving.  And be sure to check out the other nifty items from the designer.) 

For more on the Vitruvian Man and pop culture, click the original Leonardo pic.  Then scroll down a few pixels for what we might have seen if Leonardo had done design work for George Lucas.  

"You want Palm Sunday jewelry?  I'll show you Palm Sunday jewelry."

Jesus puts in a personal appearance at the Cathedral in Old San Juan.

Funny, he was at my church too. I asked my mom about this and she said it must have been one of Jesus' elves.

No, wait . . .

Palm Sunday--commemorating the procession of Jesus into Jerusalem, when people celebrated his arrival by placing palms in his path.

Here: colorful decorated palms in Madrid.

The Jerusalem Post has an informative article on a women's seder now being sponsored by Hamidrasha, a center that seeks to bridge religious and secular cultures in Israel.  In the women's seder, masculine Hebrew words are rewritten in the feminine; songs and readings focus on the seasonal renewal of spring; and the traditional four questions of the Haggadah have a somewhat different tone.  For example . . . 

Why is this night different from all other nights?

This night is not different from all other nights.

On all other nights, I promise myself that tomorrow I will eat less, I will tell another story to my children and I will be a little bit kinder.

Tonight is just the same.

PICTURED ABOVE:  Passover earrings from Chadis Crafts, featuring the Haggadah and a seder plate.  Besides having lots of interesting jewelry, the Chadis Crafts site has a couple other fun features of note:

• Scroll down to the bottom of the home page for a welcoming "Shalom Y'all" (Chadis Crafts is in Virginia), and
  
• As the site proudly proclaims, it sells "THE FIRST JEWISH FLIPFLOPS ON THE WEB!"

Last week we featured the geocentric movement, so it's only fair that we give the other side a shot.  On the upper left is a grommet necklace designed to mirror the Copernican model of heliocentric revolution.

This, however, is but one of the many wonderful items at Individual Icons--Jewelry that Works.  Compass necklaces, ruler bracelets, level earrings, thermometer jewelry and much, much more, designer LeeAnn Herreid's creations are marvelous fusion of science and art.

SCIENCE AND RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS EXTRA:

The sun has long been a symbol of the divine in religious symbolism, including Christianity.  Below are couple of other images from nature appearing in Individual Icons jewelry that one can also find in religious contexts.  Click on the pics to see references familiar in the West.

Finding Christian jewelry dedicated to one of Jesus' apostles is easy--except if you're looking for Judas Iscariot.  For the past few years the same was true about "The Gospel of Judas," an apocryphal text discovered a few years ago but kept from sight through a tangle of high-priced sales and scholastic squatting.* 

Although a few scholars have had access to the texts for several years, the text is finally being made available to the public.  The New York Times covers the basics (although the text wasn't newly discovered; it's newly released--big difference!).  Go to the National Geographic Society for the full PR blitz.  View sample pages.  Watch the TV show.  Buy the books.

Just don't expect to find a Judas pendant in the giftshop.

*An academic can build an entire career on a text like this, which is one reason why scholars who get early access are notorious for monopolizing discoveries for years.  Hindering the progress of knowledge?  No doubt.  Raising serious ethical questions?  Yep.  Suspiciously timed to tie into interest in the Da Vinci Code movie?  Uh huh.

Speaking of which . . .

USA Today's OnDeadline blog has a link to the controversial article claiming that Jesus may have actually walked on ice when seen walking across the sea of Galilee.  Does this mean that you should hold off on buying that Jesus Walks on Water pin on eBay? 

Not so fast!  Sister USAToday blog TechSpace notes a possible objection from biblical literalists:  wasn't the water supposed to be stormy? 

Well, let's take a look.  Check out the relevant passage from the Book of Matthew 14:22-34, money quotes below:

24But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.

25And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.

29And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

30But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

[Note:  The phrase translated as "in the midst of the sea" is literally in Greek "many stadia from land." A stadion was about 600 feet.]

There are several aspects of this story inconsistent with the freezing hypothesis.  As the original article explains (read, say, from pp. 14 onward), freezing was not possible during high wind; it could, however, have occurred after the wind died down.  There are also questions of speed of formation and where the ice forms.  For the freezing hypothesis to be consistent with the literal elements of the story, water out to several thousand feet from shore would have had to freeze soon after the boat set out.  There would also have to be an aberrant partial path of ice between the boat and Jesus (explaining why Peter sank after a few steps).

Whether such discrepancies undermine the freezing hypothesis depends largely on your perspective.  A literalist will say that it shows the explanation to be bunk. 

The authors of the paper, however, acknowledge that naturalistic explanations (e.g., of this incident & the parting of the Red Sea) do not always accord with the literal details of the Bible.  From this perspective, the operative question is what might have inspired a story that is not literally true.  "I saw Jesus walk on calm water near the shore" became "we saw Jesus walk a mile or so in a storm and one guy tried too but he sank." 

Which approach is right?  The choice is up to you.  Personally, I'm not buying the pin because whatever the explanation, I don't think Jesus tiptoed.

Longtime readers may remember our occasional posts about the movement to stop trade in conflict diamonds, which fund violent rebel actions in Africa.  Today's New York Times has a story about a similar movement to promote better practices in gold mining.

For more on the adverse social and environmental impact of gold mining, check out the Ethical Metalsmiths page.  The rings pictured on the left are made from recycled gold & are part of Leber's Earthwise Jewelry collection.

As illustrated by the Baby Got Book video from yesterday, in certain Christian circles a Bible is as much an article of spiritual adornment as a pendant or a ring.  The book's cover, size and version--along with where you "wear" it--speak volumes about you and your beliefs.

Nowhere is this more evident than in a story that is beginning to work its way through the mainstream media:  the folks at XXXChurch, an anti-porn ministry, tried to publish a special edition of the Bible to hand out free to porn stars, but their printer, the American Bible Society, cancelled the contract upon seeing the book's cover. 

So let us now review the lessons of today:

Proclaiming one's spirituality by carrying a large Bible:  Holy.

Giving the impression that Jesus would associate with porn stars:  Irreligious. 

All of which just goes to show that with the Bible, as with love, there are sometimes more important things than size.

"For those who don't know their lore, they think I'm worshipping satan with my skin."

To learn what this spiritual tattoo really means, click the pic for the designer's explanation.

This is a pendant based on the anarchist symbol. Not only is this piece another example of the trend toward personal fabrication and design, it's also significant in regard to its intended wearer. As the designer explains, the pendant is made out of "white gold, because it's for a baby."

A baby anarchist??? Why not? We've circumcized or baptized infants for millennia and the kids have no idea what they're getting into. By contrast, most babies seem quite determined to resist authority on their own!

EXTRA: Anarchy & Faith

While it's tempting to equate "anti-authority" with "atheist," that is not always accurate. As some anarchists themselves point out, many religious movements--from Buddhism to early Christianity to modern paganism--have opposed formalistic structures in the name of faith.

Likewise, there are a number of self-identified anarchists who are also openly spiritual. For example, Alan Moore, the author of the anarchist graphic novel V for Vendetta (the basis for the hit film), is a committed practitioner of the magic arts and ""an anarchist Gnostic who worships the Roman snake-god Glycon."

Afraid of snakes? There is also a vibrant anarchist movement within the Christian faith. Of course, while the movement has produced landmark expressions of spiritual thought, just try to get them to agree on a set time for church . . .

More jewelry from Flickr.

And lest we think religious rap is an exclusively Christian (and silly) domain, here is a more serious "Bahai -style" rap that's been getting some attention on Youtube.com.

Rap and religion are mainstays here at the Blingdom of God, but our last video uniting the two left a lot to be desired.  Fortunately, the ever-enlightening Angela Gunn has sent a link that shows a more excellent way.

For more on the maker of this viral video, check out his website at whitedj.com.

Thanks Angela!

This past weekend someone arrived at the Blingdom by searching for "nude christian singles."  This came as a big surprise to me, since those pictures are supposed to be behind a firewall.

I kid, I kid!   

Still, Jesus did say "seek and ye shall find," and who am I to frustrate a seeker relying on this promise?  So off I went on a sacred quest to find a link between the BofG and "nude christian singles." 

The result . . .

Christian nudists! 

(NOTE:  Some links below obviously may not be safe for work.)

Although some Christians think that nudity is sinful, that opinion is by no means universal.  The Naturist Christians site is a thriving online community, with discussions, photos, news and pertinent religious texts, including a chapter by the Pope.  A real-world analogue is in the works:  Natura, a Christian nudist colony now being created in Florida. 

Want pictures?  To keep this site relatively SFW I'll just post a sample link (free registration required for full access).  As for the bling . . .  

The Christian naturist jewelry market is somewhat under-developed on the web, but not so its counterparts.  Pictured above:  "Goddess" and "Worship" nipple jewelry sold by the Diablo Sun Devils Naturist Club.  If you want to see Christian bling in a nudist setting, check out the Byzantine Church of St. Paul below, which is on a nude beach in Crete!

Religion has long served as a way to assure us that we have a life beyond the limits of our temporal existence.  Some teach that our spirits and even our resurrected bodies live on in a heavenly paradise.  Others teach reincarnation--in fact, you can now find out on the web in what form you will return (hat tip:  the mighty TechSpace!). 

Science, however, is pointing the way toward a new possibility:  eternal life through cloning of one's DNA.  And the Blingdom is here to help.  Japan's Eiwa Industries is now selling pendants that contain a sample of a person's DNA.  Pictured above, for example, is a set for couples, in which each separate locket holds genetic material.

With a DNA pendant, your loved ones will have the core code of your being to keep as a lasting memorial after you die.  And, as a company manager notes, people are even buying these pendants in the hope of being able to clone the deceased.

Will believers in a literal resurrection accept wearing DNA jewelry as a symbol of the body's eventual return?  We'll know for certain when Jim Bakker sells a DNA cross!

DNAppendix:

Does Eiwa's own DNA jewelry have with a more direct connection with religion?  Yes, it does, as is evident from the theme of the company's publicity. 

Note that Eiwa, a Japanese company, focuses on the use of the jewelry to commemorate the deceased.  This reflects a deep spiritual culture of ancestor veneration--only now, instead of the deceased living on as a spirit revered in a household shrine, the ancestor is with us in a more literal way. 

For an overview of traditional Japanese religion (with lots of links), check out this informative page on Shintoism from the Religious Movements project at the University of Virginia.

No longer can I, like Gollum, hoard these treasures to myself.  The following photos are from a set sent to me by fashion blogger extraordinaire Julie Frederickson, of Almost Girl & Coutorture fame, who snapped them at the I-Con science fiction & fantasy festival at Stonybrook. 

As the following pics illustrate, the science fiction and fantasy community is rich in spiritual symbolism.  Pagan, magick, alchemical, taoist, even Christian--you name it, it's there, either in its traditional form or as a source of inspiration.  The t-shirts below from Off World Designs portray, in order, the pentacle, the triquetra and the goddess. 

Thanks Julie!

Want to know about this beaded shrine?  The photographer reveals more here.